


memories turn to dust (please don't bury us)

by BansheeLydia



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, F/M, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Soulmates, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-14 21:43:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10544826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BansheeLydia/pseuds/BansheeLydia
Summary: His soulmate is going to die and there’s nothing he can do.





	

The first kiss breaks Stiles’ heart.

Talia’s lips are warm and slightly dry and confident, gently parting Stiles’ own as her hands slide into his hair. It feels so wonderful, like fireworks going off in his belly, his heart filling and spreading warmth through his whole body. He’s heard about this, that first kiss, the feeling of total _happiness_ that embraces the soul, but he never for one second imagined it could feel like _this_.

And then she pulls away, and Stiles opens his eyes, and everything changes. 

He takes in the sparkle in Talia’s eyes, the smile on her face, and his heart _burns_. Because he can’t keep this. She’s going to lose him, and then he’ll lose her, and he won’t even _know_ he’s lost her when it happens. It’s already happened, in his timeline, when he was just a kid and didn’t even know the Hales. 

But right now, she’s here in his arms, solid and warm and so perfect. And it’s going to happen. 

His soulmate is going to die and there’s nothing he can do.

***

Deaton had told him that using his magic to go back in time to meet his soulmate was incredibly risky. Stiles was surprised he even managed to convince the older man to help, but he had been desperate enough to beg. 

He’d figured out when he was eighteen what his dreams were telling him. It didn’t take much longer for him to realize who his soulmate was. 

_That_ had been an interesting conversation with Derek and Cora. 

Everyone had walked on eggshells around him for a while. Losing your soulmate was agonizing enough; to lose them before you even met them...that was just cruel. Stiles didn’t even know how to grieve. He didn’t know if he had a _right_ to. Talia had lived her life before he was even born; she’d had a family, a pack. She’d died when Stiles was a child. She probably never even knew who he was. 

How could he mourn for his soulmate in those circumstances?

So he’d moved on. Plenty of people never met their soulmate, so it wasn’t a huge deal. And then there was Chris. There was their first kiss when he graduated from college. There was a first date, and then a third, a seventh, and then frankly _incredible_ sex. There was moving in together, morning kisses and shared showers and soft, beautiful “I love you”s. 

But in the background, there was always Talia.

Surprisingly, Chris was supportive when Stiles told him about the spell he’d dug up. Stiles didn’t know if it was because Chris’d had the chance to know and love his soulmate, or if it was because Chris knew the grief of losing his soulmate, but he’d helped to convince the rest of the pack and Deaton to help.

And oh god, _Chris_. Here, he’s so young, and so _handsome_. Stiles had caught sight of him in town and had almost walked over to him, overwhelmed by the urge to touch the dark stubble on his jaw, to have those brilliant blue eyes on him. But this Chris didn’t even know who he was. This Chris is married to a young, pregnant redhead.

And Talia.

Stiles is pretty sure he’s going to hell for the instant thought of “holy shit, Derek’s mom is _hot_.” She’s sleek muscle and thick dark hair and this dry little smile that sends butterflies off in Stiles’ stomach. She’s thirty two and recently divorced, and the second their eyes meet, they both just _know_.

Stiles chose the time carefully. Laura’s eight and Derek’s three. It’s so strange, seeing a toddler that someday will be the Derek Hale Stiles knows. He cuddles Stiles and pulls at his hair the first time they meet and has this bright, bubbly laugh that makes Stiles’ heart ache. He’s too young to remember Stiles, just as Stiles had planned.

Cora isn’t even born yet. It’s a small consolation, at least, to know that when Stiles has to return to his timeline, Talia will move on and reunite with her first love, will have Cora and be happy, at least for a while.

A huge part of Stiles is tempted to see if he can find his dad, to see his mom, just one more time, but he knows it’s too risky. So he spends most of his time with the Hales. It’s so strange, and yet, it feels so wonderful.

And he knows it can’t last.

***

Talia grins at him, leans in to kiss him again. Stiles feels like his throat is full of ashes.

“I never thought I’d meet my soulmate,” she says softly. “I definitely didn’t think he’d be younger than me.”

Stiles laughs, but it’s wet, turning into a sob as tears spill over. _Younger_. She has no idea. Talia’s eyes widen in alarm, her hands cupping his face. 

“Sorry,” he murmurs. “I just...”

“It’s okay.” 

He looks up, meeting her dark eyes, and Talia just smiles softly, hugging him. 

Stiles wants so badly to stay. He wants to warn Talia, to tell her what’s going to happen, save her. But he can’t. He knows he can’t. And it breaks his heart so thoroughly that he wonders how Chris ever survived this.

Later, Talia’s head is in Stiles’ lap and his fingers are stroking through her hair when she says, quietly, “I’ve seen a lot of strange things, Stiles. But nothing quite as strange as you. You don’t smell right, you know that?”

He swallows. “I can’t...” he trails off, doesn’t know how to even begin to explain.

“You have to go, don’t you?”

Stiles squeezes his eyes shut. “Yeah. Talia, I...”

She sits up, looks at him, expression sombre. “It’s okay. I...I don’t think I want to know. I’ve met you and that’s enough. That’s enough.”

She kisses him again, slow and sweet, and Stiles tells himself that she’s right. This is enough. 

That night, he stops to check in on Derek and Laura one last time before he tucks Talia into bed. She drifts asleep with a soft smile on her face and he leans down, kissing her forehead. He wants to stay, at least until sunrise, but he knows if he stays now, he won’t ever let himself leave. 

And Chris is waiting for him.

He takes one last look at Talia, fast asleep with her hair fanning over her pillow and moonlight spilling over her, and closes the door. He presses his palm to his chest, trying to hold his heart together as he closes his eyes and mutters the spell under his breath.

***

Chris is the first thing he sees.

A sob breaks free and his fiancé wordlessly opens his arms, enveloping Stiles in a tight hug, just holding him as he cries. He doesn’t speak. He doesn’t need to. He understands and right now, that’s enough.

**Author's Note:**

> written for day 4 of the shipping with stiles week over at shippingwithstiles.tumblr.com 
> 
> I'm currently accepting prompts at allirica.tumblr.com :)


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